Goat on the lam since Christmas Eve found safe

A longhaired goat that ran away from a Minnesota nativity scene on Christmas Eve is finally back home after being on the lam for 25 days.

The errant animal, named Curley, turned herself in when she wandered onto the farm owned by Tony Loomer and family, near Fergus Falls, Minn.

Loomer told msnbc.com that he had gone down to the barn around 4 p.m. Wednesday to feed his daughter’s horse and some goats when he noticed a stranger among the herd.

“As I came around the corner, she was just standing there,” Loomer said. “It took me a minute to realize it was the goat.”

The naughty nanny goat had built up quite a reputation among area residents ever since she slipped out of her leash while taking part in a nativity scene in front of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church on Christmas Eve.

Over the past three weeks, there had been numerous sightings of the animal, no doubt encouraged by $250 in reward money donated by concerned citizens.

With Curley's penchant for running away when chased, Loomer said he was careful in how he approached her, putting down some food before grabbing the goat's horns and getting her into the barn.

“She was hungry, cold and wet and froze,” he said, noting that the animal had to have crossed an interstate and a river to get to his family’s property, located about four miles from the church.

With Curley safely back in the barn where she couldn’t escape, Loomer and his wife called the animal's owners, Jim and Karen Aakre, who were relieved Curley had been found.

“She was almost in tears,” he said of Karen Aakre.

While Loomer may be eligible for the reward money, he says he’s just glad to have helped.